It’s a popular dietary supplement that claims to boost mental focus and performance. And it occurs naturally in many protein-rich foods. But new science has found Tyrosine may reduce male life expectancy…
Many dietary supplements have come under fire from nutritionists and the medical com-munity over the past decade, after experi-mental findings shows they may have serious drawbacks – side effects – that outweigh their benefits…
Longevity in play?
Now, researchers are warning that a popular brain booster may shorten men’s lives… The substance is Tyrosine, an amino acid known to mediate cognitive functions. It’s taken by folks who want to boost mental focus and alertness, and combat the effects of mental stress. And it’s not just taken as a supple-ment. High-protein diets are also naturally high in tyrosine.
And tyrosine is extremely popular. No figures are available on the number of people taking it. But the worldwide market for the supple-ment is estimated at (US)$520 million. Based on historical figures, tyrosine sales are pro-jected to grow by 4.5 to 6.5 percent per year for the foreseeable future.
What they did
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia data-mined health inform-ation on 270,000 participants in the UK Biobank survey, a large research database containing health and genetic data collected over a long term from subjects across Britain.
They wanted to see if there was any connection between tyrosine and another common brain amino acid, phenylalanine, on aging. Both of those are used in the production of important neurotrans-mitters such as dopamine. And the reserarchers wanted to see if reduced levels of one or both in older subjects correlated with shorter lifespans. Instead, they discovered that the opposite may be true.
What they found
According to an abstract of the study report, “Researchers found that higher tyrosine levels may shorten lifespan in men […] while showing no significant effect in women.
At the same time, the analysis showed no correlation between phenylalanine and longevity.
The takeaway
The researchers point out: “The results raise intriguing questions about protein intake, tyrosine supplements, and whether this common amino acid plays an overlooked role in aging.”
And where there are questions, in the scientific world, there is bound to be further, follow-on research.
My take
Given the popularity of tyrosine as a supplement, and the growing popularity of protein boosting, that follow-on research can’t come soon enough – for millions of men out there.
I hasten to add… The researchers took a moment in their report to mention that tyrosine is plentiful in protein-rich foods, and most folks should not have to take supplements to function to perform normally.
But this only underlines previous findings that most folks already get enough – or more than enough – protein in their daily diets than they need. Which makes the protein boosting that many UPF makers are using, to make their snacks and recreational drinks appear healthier, all the more problematic.
~ Maggie J.